June at Halifax Humane Society may only have one eye but she is still very beautiful and very friendly too. Her Animal ID at the shelter is 29839981 and she is just over 2 years old.

As of today’s date, there are currently 81 healthy, adoptable pets, like June shown left, sitting at Halifax Humane Society waiting for a forever home. Of them, 44 are cats (see a list of all of cats), and 37 are dogs (see a list of all of dogs), with more waiting in the back to move up into an adoption kennel. Southeast Volusia Humane Society and our other local rescues are also overflowing with homeless pets. Please consider fostering or adopting one of these animals or sharing this blog to spread the word about them. One of the number one causes of this issue is that many people do not get their pets fixed and allow them to have puppies and kittens leading to the pet overpopulation explosion we now have on our hands.

According to the Humane Society of the United States website “Of the 3 million cats and dogs euthanized in shelters each year, approximately 2.4 million (80%) are healthy and treatable and could have been adopted into new homes.” These numbers are staggering and disturbing, and are one of the driving forces as to why I spend so much time trying to help pets in need. There are more animals being born, than there are homes to go around for them.

We as good citizens of our community must step up and take responsibility for our pets, get them fixed, get their shots, keep them safe, and encourage others to do the same. Back yard breeders need to be clamped down on and stopped as they are actually leading to the deaths of other pets by bringing more animals into the world. One way you can help is to adopt from a shelter and not buy from a back yard breeder. I have heard comments from repeat offenders of people who continue to let their cat have kittens and sell or give them away on swip-swap like, “It’s a cat..it has kittens..that’s what they do..what’s the big deal?”. The big deal is for every kitten born, a shelter cat dies (at a cost of approximately $85 to the tax payer) as there is one more animal brought into the world and one less adoptable home. I have also heard a lot “well it’s mainly an indoor cat/dog but it got out and now it’s pregnant”. Animals will find a way to get out so they can mate and have babies! An animal is much more likely to roam or run away if it’s not fixed. If the owner is lucky enough to get it back, it may be pregnant or have impregnated another animal, now they just contributed towards the pet overpopulation problem.

Look at this senior guy Mack at Halifax Humane Society! He needs a home and is as sweet as can be! Sometimes senior dogs can be harder to find homes for as many people want a young dog. Animal ID 30528120

How to FIX the problem!
Spay and Neuter – aka ‘fixing’ pets is proven to have the largest and most direct impact on reducing the amount of animals entering shelters. Just one unfixed cat or dog can lead to hundreds and even thousands of unplanned and/or unwanted kittens or puppies. PLUS fixing your pet is advantageous to their health, they can live longer lives and it can help improve behavioral issues. There are plenty of places to get pets fixed at a reasonable price* in Volusia County including the Halifax Humane Society’s Redinger Clinic. Call them on (386) 310-4935 to make an appointment. Redinger currently have a special on for February called ‘Beat the Heat’ and will fix a female cat for just $20 but call soon as spaces are limited. They also do microchips and vaccinations and low cost. Many cities have a low cost spay/neuter option so please find one even if you are not local and you happen to read this.

*Some people take issue with ‘low cost’ spay/neuter and they feel the quality is not as good. I have used them and never had a problem and at the volumes of animals they ‘fix’ their surgery success rates are very good. Many people cannot afford the prices at the vets for spay/neuter so these low cost clinics do a wonderful service for those on lower incomes who wish to be responsible pet owners.